Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-08-18
A CORSICAN LEGEND.

.
/ and lazy n COTsiCans are.
| One day Iuidgi said 10 Pietro: You
are growing thin ey,sy day, you sigh dur
! ing the whole night, you have no more
! appetitc-what is ailing you!'
Brother" replied Pietro, Il want to
! marry
VERY we'll" answered Luidgi, marry
and be done with il; this crime is a COM
mon one; every man or nearly every man
takes "A wife. and we have plenty Of good
and handsome girls all around us: make
n choice and give me a sister 10 cherish as
do YOU, brut th"r.'
That seems Ia be an easy matter with
you. LuidCi, but if told you that l want
Il perfectly and naturally rose and white
girl for my WIFE, what would You say"
That pretCusi"n Of yours changes the
situation considerably. Why, there is not
in Corsica "A single girl who does not put
two pounds Of flour and one pound Of car
mine ON her checks every month. If You
persist in your cNacting, rictro, ! fear
that You VIII die in the skin Of an old
bachelor. which is certainly worthy of
consideration
No. will not die bachelor, and for
that reason | Will request you to travel
the country in search Of the girl that my
heart call for. II you find her, LuidGi,
make haste to return and will marry
her on the spot. Remember. she must lie
perfectly and naturally rose and white"
LuidCi who WIS a good fellow, kissed
his brother. took big sponge that he wet
well. mounted lis horse and departed on
his mission. He Travelled many miles,
and as soon rs hc saw a pretty girl coming
IA being very common in Corsica) quickly
he dismounted. rushed at her and pressed
his sponge TO her face. Alas! the sponge
caused the comcly face to turn n little
swarthy: then discouraged he pursued
his course reciiing the verses made on
women by the Arab poet, savage:
Verify women are treacherous TO every one near
or distant.
with their fingers dyed with kenna; with their
hair arranged in plaits.
With their faces whitcnod and crimsoned their
eyes painted with kohl,
They make one drink Of sorrow!
That Arab knew them thoroughly"
the Arabs ought ;O, said he to himself.
II tramp like the Wandering jew from
north 10 south, from east To west. see
hundreds Of women, young and old, car
rying on their faces the substance of quite
number of poor families. Was it for
1Eal IuElhi>t IIal ppu tTcalcu Wlt.lt!
The rich ones use ccruse and arsenic: the
making of ccruse is deadly TO the work
men: the use Of arsenic is deadly to the
women. Are they all crazy ! do not
blame my brother for his wish. but l blame
myself for going on this fools errand."
And he became 50 tired with the failure
of his mission that he resolved to return
home. when. one night. having accepted
No. MI g OH har,nft la si,,hai
SO much that the next morning his host
who had heard him, asked the cause Of
his affliction.
"Ah"' answered he. good father, l
am in search of wife for my brother.
ard am unsuccessful in my undertake
ing"
And what kind of wife does he ex-
pect, that you cannot find n girl worthy
Of becoming his better half. Are the
Corsican girls So ugly and SO bad that you
experience SO much difficulties TO meet
one rs your brother wishes her TO be,''
Not nj all. father; our girls are hand
some and honest, but they disfigure them
selves by painting their faces as a BARRIERS
pole. They forget that the beauty de-
scribcd 10y Solomon in his Song Of the
Songs said of herself:
sono huma ma bella,
Come le tende iii CheC!ar;
Come padi slioui iii Sllomone.
Il am dark but handsome as the tents O.
Chcdar, as the pavilions of Solomonl
do not trouble yourself any more
about Your brothers desire that l have
guessed. He wants a girl perfectly and
naturally rose and white" replied the
hermit.
-
.'AI! right know where you will meet
with such girl. She lives in a garden
not very far from here with her father,
who is an oyer, and her fairy of "A mother.
In the midst OF that garden is an orange
tree covered with luscious fruits You
viii take one and say: Are YOU thirsty
Then beautiful girl Will appear and ask
you for water Give her none, but take
her in your arms and run toward the gate
When you will have passed il she will be
thirsty no longer. She is the woman who
shall become your brothers wife. Her
father, whose name is Touchmenot, is eX-
ceedingly ugly. He has a head the size
of a pumpkin, two green eyes IS large as
a saucer, a neck ike bull He is seven
foot tall, ferocious, suspicious. malicious
and cruel. You know your man now
What do you intend To dos'
If you will show r.e the road to that
garden" answered Luidgi, Il will go
take the orange and bring wife TO my
brother"
You are brave soul" replied the old
man. To morrow morning | will ac-
company you to the place where the girl
is detained"
So the next day they went to the gar
den, and the hermit had already leg
over the wall when all of sudden
TouchmenOt, who was watching the pair,
seized the trcspass and ran toward his
house holding the holy man fast. Ar
irving i'll lis kitchen. the brute put him
III a bag, whose mouth he tied with a
strong rope and threw it under the table.
This done he returned 10 see if he could
not catch the CorsiCan also, but Luidgi
had vanished, and seeing nobody lettering
around, he went 10 the forest to cut "A
branch Of a tree with which lie intended
to beat the hermit To death.
Ii is Il well known fact that never n
Corsican deserts friend il trouble. Ii is
equally true that never he deserts an
enemy To whom he returns tooth for
tooth and eye for eye lyon cannot blame
him for that, rs il Is due 10 his generous
nature, 50 Luidgi had watched the goings
and doings of TOuchmcnot, and when he
,aw the oger leaving the house he has
tened to the hermit's rescue. He climbed
an olive tree, and from there he jumped
into a room whose windows We're open;
his companion was not i'll the room; he
visited >uccessiveIy all the others without |
finding lis man; finally, he arrived in the
kitchen calling Father! Father! Are you |
here \ voice answered Yes, | am in |
that bag under the table: take me out, for |
Gods sake Luidgi drew the bag, un- |
tied il. and the hermit emerged from his |
uncomiortal L. abode.
let H. run as fast us our legs can |
carry u.s. said he 10 his savior. Il am |
all trembling with fear" added he
Wait a moment. father. must play |
a trick on that briEdnd." And Luidgi |
began to gather all the chinaware Of |